A City with Two Names Is Doubly Fantastic
- Candace Ahlfinger
- Aug 11
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 16
Donostia and San Sebastián, Spain
First, before I write any other words, just let me say that I want to go back and much sooner rather than later!
Secondly, a disclaimer. I had studied in San Sebastian for several weeks when I was in college. All I remembered of my visit was a room with white walls and no windows. I had tried, but I couldn’t remember more about the city than that. It took this visit, and a visit to the beautiful and informative St. Telmo Museum, to realize why my memory was so different.
My university group went to Pamplona during the San Fermin Festival (Running of the Bulls) on one of our first days in San Sebastian and that’s where the adventure began. We arrived at our meeting place to hear professors rushing us on the bus and people starting to push and shove. We had just left the corner when a members of the ETA (a Basque separatist group) and the Francoist Youths clashed and someone threw a Molotov cocktail at that very place. In the resulting melee, a Basque youth was killed by the police. When we arrived in San Sebastian, we were quickly unloaded in our hotel and a room within the hotel was appropriated for our classes, so we never left the building. Unfortunately, we never enjoyed the beautiful beaches or visited the historic Old Town. The New York Times reported on July 15, 1978 “Protests quickly spread to other Basque cities. On Tuesday, in San Sebastian, another youth was killed by the police. On Wednesday, a general strike shut businesses in most of the region and barricades and bombs sealed off key highways and railroads.” In fact, we could not even leave the city because all transportation to the “outside” world was cut off. It was only some days later when we were able to catch a sleeper train to Madrid. Looking back, I’m certain the professors and university were panicking and carefully weighing options to ensure the safety of all of us, but somehow, they did manage to get us all home safely.
This trip? This trip was very different! Instead of armed military personnel everywhere there were friendly police officers and amiable vendors. Stores and sidewalk artists abounded. What a difference safety makes!
And now…more about the city.
A city with two names in different languages is not that unusual, but Donostia uses both interchangeably within the city and on maps. So why does this wonderful city have two names when both of which mean Saint Sebastian? Simple…its history, rich with Basque and Spanish influence, has provided dual languages in the area. The city has carried the names of Donostia (in Euskera aka Basque) and San Sebastian (Spanish) for more than 1,000 years with the first reference to the city in the 11th century. Even now, many streets carry both Basque and Spanish names which can make it confusing to visitors.
In addition to tourism, San Sebastian, the capital of the Spanish Guipuzcoa Province, has been a center of fishing, food, explorers, pirates, and more. While the pirates have disappeared over time, the food is still better than fabulous! With more Michelin starred restaurants per capita than any other city except Tokyo, the choices are incredible. And just because a restaurant doesn’t have a Michelin star doesn’t make it any less wonderful. Our first evening in San Sebastian, we went on a food tour with Devour, a company that now has food tours in many other cities. Our guide, Begonna, introduced us to pintxos, more-or-less the Basque equivalent of Spanish tapas. We were taught their history—in the Basque matriarchal society, the women only gave the men enough money for small bites—and learned the proper etiquette of ordering and eating pintxos (pronounced “pinchos”) For more information on pintxos and the wonderful restaurants in Donostia/San Sebastian, click here. (Page coming soon!)
I could go on…and on…and on…about the food, but I will stop drooling and move on to the city itself and let you go to my blog on San Sebastian foods for more detailed information.
The next morning, we took another tour, this time through Viator, with Silvia. We had requested even more history, and she was very willing to show us. San Sebastian was under French rule where residents had chaffed at the harsh terms. They were excited, therefore, when the Portuguese and English ran the French, under the leadership of Napoleon, out of town—until the “saviors” razed much of the city in 1813. The city was rebuilt in the time after the siege, so the majority of buildings in the Old Town were built in the 1800s. In 1863, the wall surrounding the town was torn down so the city could grow. Annual visits by Spain’s Queen Isabella II beginning in 1845 ensured the touristic growth of the city for visitors’ health.
The Plaza de la Constitución, built in 1817, is still a vibrant part of day-to-day life in San Sebastian. Historically, the plaza served as a bullfighting area. The balconies, which were rented out to spectators, still bear the numbers that showed viewers where to sit. (People who owned the apartments next to the numbers could only look over the paid viewers’ shoulders!) Now, on January 20th, the plaza is the site of the annual celebration of Saint Sebastian, the Tamborrada.
Many stories exist about the beginnings of the festivities but suffice it to say that half of the participants are dressed as English soldiers while the other half are dressed as Basque cooks since, originally, the cooks were the ones who had access to drums, aka pots and pans. Children learn the songs from an early age so the festivities can continue. We were able to watch a practice, which was great!
We also saw a jai alai court, one of many scattered throughout the city. Other national sports include wood chopping, boulder lifting, tug of war, and even lawn mowing. What a great way to incorporate fun and competition into otherwise boring task—and convince kids that they are excelling in sports while getting household chores done! In Old Town, we also visited the Basilica De Santa Maria del Coro, built in 1774, which aligns with the Catedral del Buen Pastor, inaugurated in 1897, exactly 1 kilometer away. St. Vincent’s Church, which is also in the Old Town, is the oldest surviving building with its completion date in the first half of the 16th century. (The Catedral is in a new part of San Sebastian and is surrounded by upscale shopping and restaurants.)
We walked by one of the remaining men’s cooking clubs which share such an interesting history. Men wanted a place to get away from their wives in their traditional Basque matriarchal societies. They developed gastronomic societies or txokos where they would cook, eat and visit on men’s night out. Some of these are now open to women, but most are male member only.
Wandering the streets of Old Town, stopping for a pintxo or two (or three) is a great way to spend a relaxing day. However, San Sebastian has more… much more.
We joined people of all ages as we spent an afternoon hiking up Mount Urgull. Multiple green paths heading up to the Castillo de Mota which was constructed in the 12th century. The Casa de la Historia de Urgull is a small museum that shares the story of the people of San Sebastian. The Sagrado Corazon, a 36-meter-tall statue of Christ which can be seen from most of San Sebastian, is within the fort where it gazes beatifically down on the city below it.
Climbing to the top allowed us panoramic views to see the Old Town, Gros, La Concha Beach, Zurriola Beach, and Mount Igeldo. We took another path—I can’t tell you which one since we were simply wandering—down to the seaside and where we walked along the ocean boardwalk to see the “Empty Construction sculpture by Oteiza before heading back into town passing, but not visiting, the marina which is full of colorful fishing boats, the aquarium and the Naval Museum. This time we entered the Old Town through the Portu Kalea back into the small winding streets of the Old Town.
Another day, we visited San Telmo Museum that has incorporated a former convent and its cloisters into its beautiful facility. During our visit to the museum my college visit to the city came into focus. The museum, though, delves into the history of the Basques which have maintained their language through all the massive turbulence. In fact, the Basque language has no known relation to any other language—one of only a few isolate languages in the world. The church walls in the museum are covered with tapestry murals by Sert depicting Basque history in a way that adds both beautify and warmth to the space.
After St. Telmo Museum, we made our way to the Maria Cristina Hotel, the premier historical hotel in San Sebastian and the Victoria Eugenia Antzokia, the performing arts theater, next door.
Another day, we ventured to Mount Igueldo and around its base to the "El Peine del Viento," the work of Chillida, a Basque sculptor. (Watch out for the water…the waves can come up over the seemingly too tall walls and drench you!) Afterwards, we took the funicular to the mountain-top 1912 amusement park where we spent some time watching the vintage rides, exploring the lighthouse, and having a cup of cappuccino. (The roller coaster was particularly fascinating. It runs on steel rails like a train and has its own brakeman onboard to control the speed of the ride as it swerves too-close-for-me to the humongous steep cliff that overlooks rocks and ocean about 600 feet below.)
On our way back to our hotel, the Hotel Londres, we were caught by a brief rainstorm so we ducked into a restaurant for a few mid-afternoon pintxos—a great way to while away some time.
The Hotel Londres y de Inglaterra where we stayed was centrally located overlooking the Concha Bay. The room was lovely and the restaurant/bar beautiful. They provided umbrellas for rainy days and gave us many helpful hints about transportation and places to see. They are right on the boardwalk and only a few minutes’ walk into the Old Town. The boardwalk provided entertainment with street performers and artists. The artist that amazed both of us was the artist, @Calat33, who would create a beautiful picture in the beach sand each day only to have the waves lap it away into oblivion, only saved by photos and memories. (To see some of his creations, click here. https://calat33.com/galeria)
We spent one day on a tour to Bilbao via Gaztelugatxe as featured in Game of Thrones.(Information on this tour will be posted soon.) There are many other day trips available from San Sebastian, but we enjoyed the slow pace of the trip and had more to do than we had time to do it in.
All too soon, our time in San Sebastian was over, but we plan on going back…and soon!
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Stay tune for more on our trip including the foods of San Sebastian, Spain!
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